Vending apparatus.



l. J. BURKHARTZMEYER.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, 1912. RENEWED MAR. 22. I916.

1;1 90,981. Patented July ll, 1916.

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J. J. BURKHARTZMEYER.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24 1912. RENE ED MAR. 22. l9l6.

Patented July 11, 1916.

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present invention JACOB J'. BURKHARTZMEYER, 0F FABIBAULT,'1VIINNESOTA.

VENDING APPARATUS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 24, 1912, Serial No. 699,462. Renewed March 22, 1916. Serial No. 85,974.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB J. BURKHARTZ- MEYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Faribault, in the county of Rice and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending Apparatus, of which the following is a specificatlon, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to coin or check controlled vending apparatus and more particularly to a machine for vending cigars, pencils and like commodities.

One aim of the invention is to provide a machine of this type which will operate automatically upon the insertion of the proper coin or check, to eject the article purchased, so that it will not benecessary for the person depositing the coin or check to actuate a lever or like member before the article purchased is delivered.

In addition to the above, the invention aims to so construct the delivery apparatus as to positively prevent the delivery of more than one of the said articles at one time.

A further aim of theinvention is to provide novel means for preventing the insertion of a Wire or the like into the discharge chute thereof for the purposeof actuating the delivery mechanism without depositing the proper coin or check.

-Whilethe apparatus embodying the present invention is designed particularly for the vending of cigars, it may be employed for the purpose of vending other articles of similar shape and with theidea in view of especially adapting the same to the former use, the invention contemplates the provision within the casing for the apparatus of a novel humidor compartment for containing the cigars to be vended.

A further aim of the invention is to so construct the delivery mechanism that it will not, in its operation, injure the wrappers of the cigars, nor the coverings of other articles to be delivered.

With these and other objects inview the consists in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and finally pointed out in the appended claims, it being further understood that changes in the specific structure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims, withdownwardly therefrom view through the machine from front to rear, and Fig. 4, is a sectional view on the line 4, 4, of Fig. 3-, looking in the direction indicated by-the arrows.

The apparatus embodying the present invention is arranged within a casing, the side walls of which are indicated by the numeral 1, the front wall by the numeral 2, and the rear wall by'the-numeral 3. The bottom of this casing is indicated by the numeral 4, and the top thereof by the numerals 9 and 10. The top members are held together at their juncture by means of the V-shaped strip 1, and the square batten 2, shown in Fig. 3. Withinthe casing between the front and rear walls thereof there is arranged a partition 6. A partition 7, is arranged within the casing'beneath the top wall thereof and constitutes the bottom of the compartment within which the cigars or other articles to be vended are stored, this compartment being indicated in general by the numeral 8. As illustrated, the forward top of the casing consists of a fixed section 10, "and the sliding section 5, and the slanting partition 7, is supported at its rear by the top section 9, and extends forwardly and and is supported at its front by the upper edge of the partition 6, the inclinatlon of-the partition 7, serving to feed the cigars or other articles toward 'the front of the machine. The bottom wall of the compartment 8, is indicated by the numeral 11, and is inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the walls 2 and 10,

.at their line of juncturef This wall 11, of

the compartment 8, is provided at its rear edge with a depending apron 12, located opposite azine 8.

and in parallel spaced relation to the partition 6. Theapron or'eXtension-12, andthe partition 6, form,

in conjunction with An'inclined plate 13, extends downwardly and forwardly from the partition 6, to a discharge opening 13, at the bottom of the front wall 2, of the casing, and this plate also extends between vertical partition walls 14, which are located inwardly of the side walls of the casing and extend between the front Wall thereof and the partition 6, as shown in Fig. 4. A receiving trough is arranged upon the front wall at the discharge opening 13, and is indicated by the numeral 15, and is designed to receive the articles discharged through the said opening. It is preferable that the upper side of the inclined plate 13, be provided with transversely extending ribs having their abrupt sides presented forwardly, and these ribs which are indicated by the numeral 16, are designed to prevent the insertion of a wire or the like into the discharge chute of the machine to actuate the article retaining devices therewith. Located above the plate 13, is the guard plate 3, this being held in parallel relation to said member 13, at its forward end, but having its rear end flanged upward, as shown in Fig. 3.

A rock shaft 17, is mounted at its ends in suitable bearings 18, upon the side walls of the casing and extends transversely be tween the partition 6, and the rear wall 3, of the casing. A pair of arms 19, are fixed upon the shaft 17, for rocking movement therewith and each of these arms extends above and below' the shaft.

One of the article retaining members of the delivery apparatus embodies a pair of horizontally held fingers 21, which are connected by a cross piece 22, and have rearwardly extending stems 23, which are pivotally connected as at 24, to the upper ends of the arms 19. The forward ends of these fingers 21, project through slots 25, formed in the partition 6, opposite the apron 12, of the front wall of the compartment 8, of the casing. At this point it will be readily understood that when the shaft 17, is rocked in one direction, the ends of the fingers 21, will be projected into the discharge chute of the machine and the purpose of so moving the fingers will be presently fully explained. Thearticle retaining device further includes a swinging bar 26, which is supported at the lower ends of the links 27 pivotally mounted upon the pins 28, upon the side walls of the casing and from the forward edge of this bar 26, there project the fingers 29, slidably fitting through slots 30, formed in the partition 6. A spring 31, is connected at its forward end to the partition 6, and at its rear end to the ear 4', extending from the bar 26, and serves to normally hold the bar at the forward limit of its movementoand with the fingers 29, thereon projecting through the slots 30, and into the discharge chute of the machine. The

rearward movement of the bar is limited by the stops 32, which are engaged by the links 27, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, when the latter are swung rearwardly sufficiently far to withdraw the fingers from the discharge chute, but not so far as to withdraw their ends from the slots 30. Rods 33, are pivoted at their rear ends to the ears 4, of the bar 26, and at their rear ends to the downwardly extending portions 20, of

the respective arms 19, upon the rock shaft 17, so that when the shaft is rocked to projeot the fingers 21, into the discharge chute, the bar will be moved rearwardly to retract the fingers 29, from the chute. It is intended that the shaft 17 shall be so rocked when the proper coin or check is deposited in the machine, and to this end there is fixed upon the shaft 17, between the arms 19 and 20, a trip plate 34, which projects forwardly from the shaft in substantially horizontal position, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, of the drawings. A coin or check chute 35, is fixed vertically through the top section 9, of the casing directly above the trip plate 34, and has a slot 36, through which the coin or check is to pass before it drops upon the trip plate 34. A light leaf spring 37, is preferably arranged within the slot 36, and is designed to retain a coin or check which is not of the proper weight to depress the trip plate.

The operation of the machine is as fol lows: Upon the insertion of a proper coin or check 00, into the coin chute 35, the same will pass downwardly through the slot 36, and will drop upon the trip plate 34. The weight of the coin will depress the plate to about the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, of the drawings, thereby rocking the shaft 17, forwardly. As before stated, the fingers 29, normally project into the discharge chute of the machine and they support the cigar or other article which is to be delivered in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 4, of the drawings. However, as the shaft is rocked in the manner stated, these fingers will be retracted and the fingers 21, will be projected into the discharge chute beneath the next cigar or other article to be delivered. The delivery of more than one of the articles at a time is thus positively prevented. After the coin or check has slid from the trip plate, the spring 31, will return the parts to the normal position, whereupon the next cigar to be delivered will be allowed to drop upon the fingers 29, and the fingers 21, will be retracted. The parts will remain in this position until the insertion of another coin or check when the above described operation will be repeated.

It is tobe particularly noted that the fingers 21, and the fingers 29, are located at opposite sides of the front to rear median line of the machine, so that they will be ranged to be projected successively into advanced beneath the ends of the cigars and will therefore not be liable to injure the wrappers thereof.

The coins or checks deposited in the ma.- chine are delivered into a drawer 38, which is slidably fitted through the rear wall of the casing and rests upon the bottom 4, thereof. A look 39, secures this drawer against surreptitious removal.

With the cigar storage compartment 8, at each side thereof is arranged a sponge containing box 40, shown in Fig. 4, having perforations 41, in its side which is presented inwardly, and a slide 5, is removably arranged within the section 10, of the top of the casing, which when removed exposes to view the sponges 43, within the drawers 40, and the cigars within the compartment 8. This slide is secured by means of a lock 6. a

If desired, a match safe 44, may be mounted upon one side of the casing of the machine.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a vending machine, an article storage compartment, a discharge chute leading therefrom, a rock shaft, an article retaining finger having connection with the said shaft, a pivotally supported link, a bar supported thereby, fingers projecting from the bar, connection between the said shaft and bar, the first and last mentioned fingers being a1:-

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the discharge chute upon rocking of the shaft, a trip member upon the shaft, and a coin chute located above the said trip member.

2. In a vending machine, an article storage compartment, a discharge chute leading therefrom, a rock shaft, a pair of fingers actuated by said rock shaft projecting through one wall of said chute, a bar mounted transversely in rear of said chute, fingers upon said bar projecting through the wall of said chute below said first mentioned fingers, a connection between said bar and said shaft, means connected with the bar for normally holding the same in position with the fingers thereon projecting into the discharge chute, and a trip plate secured to said shaft.

3. In a vending machine, an article storage compartment ending in a discharge,

chute, of a rock shaft, article retaining fingers actuated by said rock shaft projecting into said chute, a pivotally suspended link, a member carried by said link equipped with fingers, said link carried member being resiliently held, means of connection between said article retaining fingers and said rock shaft, and a trip plate carried by said rock shaft, all arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB BURKARTZMEYER. Witnesses:

J. L. MONTY, W. S. SHAFT.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

